Singapore Media

Even saying the word and some of the uninformed may still hold the belief
thatit is located "somewhere in China," knowing only where it
isapproximately. Yet this vibrant, newly industrialized city-state is in
factlocated close to the equator and is often overlooked on the world map;
notsurprising, considering it is only represented by a small dot in the
South China

Sea. Today, the island of Singapore has earned high acclaim
for its rapidtransformation from a humble trading post to the modern,
technologicalmetropolis that it has proudly become. Singapore has been
described by someeconomists as a "modest miracle," simply because it has
managed toachieve the status of an Asian business headquarters with its only
resource:people. (Marshall, 1970) Despite it’s lacking of other resources,
due to itsstrategic location at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula,
Singapore is athriving business hub for Southeast Asia with an excellent
communicationsnetwork infrastructure. It possesses all the trappings of a
successful businesscenter with an extremely multicultural heritage, as well
as an abundance ofcolorful and modern environment. History on this island
began around the 15thcentury, when it became a port of call for various
Malay empires ruling at thetime. It was most likely favorable to them for
its perfect deep-water harborarea; it is one of the world’s largest at
roughly 93 square miles, and offerssix gateways to the open seas. What the
early settlers probably didn’t careabout was its rich, hilly landscape and
fertile tropical forestry. The coastalregion of Singapore is very smooth and
rocky, easily accessible for all types ofboats. They were more interested in
the coastal possibilities, and perhaps withthe temperate, relatively uniform
climate. It is a humid and rainy island, withoccasional violent winds.
However, the early history wasn’t documented as muchfor its accuracy as it
was for its mythology. Singapore’s modern history beganwith the arrival of
Sir Stamford Raffles of the British East India Company wholanded there in
1819 in search of establishing a trading site. It was quicklytransformed
into a legitimate British colony, not recognized as property byanyone.
Singapore was declared a city by a royal British charter and it
quicklycreated a municipal colony. (Marshall, 1970) With this colony,
Singapore was tobecome a prosperous industrial trade nation. Perhaps it’s
most alarmingattribute to success is the growth in population, comprising
mainly Singaporecitizens and permanent residents. What I mean by citizens is
the medley of racesmaking up Singapore’s resident base; they consist of the
Chinese, Malays,

Indians, Arabs, Persians, and Europeans. The population
in the early years wasprobably not more than a few hundred thousand. Today,
the number, and ethnicity,of people have risen almost a ten-fold. With all
of the dramatic increases inpopulations of immigrants came the influx of
different languages, and cultures,too. Singapore’s officially-recognized
languages are Malay, Chinese(Mandarin), Tamil, and English; which is
considered the administrative language,the social conglomerate. Singapore’s
mainstay of British authority lastedaround a hundred-fifty years before its
brief accommodation with Malaysia.

Despite being a small, resource-poor
island, Singapore gained its fullindependence in 1965. This new Singapore,
staunchly anticommunist, was finallyfree to pursue capitalism with vigor and
determination that set new standardsfor nations of the Rim. Singapore faced
a problem that was similar to otherformer colonies: how to take the
disparate cultures and blanket of colonial

European influences and weave
them into a free, modern state. Singapore wasspared the problem of
traditionally hostile indigenous cultures bound togetherby unnatural modern
state boundaries, with constant tribalism and distributionof power. However,
Singapore also lacked the cultural building blocks that areobvious
characteristics of a modern nation-state. So how do you turn amultiethnic
colony into a cohesive nation? Singapore’s former Prime Minister,

Lee
Kuan Yew, tried to do this. His policies were attacked and ridiculed.
Theincluded strict enforcement of codes of public behavior, use of English
as theimportant language, a national ideology built around cultural
tolerance andloyalty to the nation. Because of the other nations of the
world in conflict forpost-colonialism, Yew believed the only alternative was
to establish a strongcentral government that could survive the typical
splintering of states intopieces. Opposition was minimal among Singaporeans
or domestic media, which hemainly controlled. What he basically did in the
media was a symbol of the battlebetween modern authoritarianism and
independent journalism. (Stevenson, 1994)

Singapore also made an advance
in the development of a centralized government.

Not a ruthless
dictatorship, mind you, but rather an authoritarian governmentbased on the
idea of commerce and wealth. An insidious ingredient ofauthoritarian control
is that it can include shady acts and threats that canlater be denied. It is
basically a parliamentary system with a writtenconstitution, but
infrequently honored. The President is largely a ceremonialhead of state,
but a Prime Minister and a cabinet representing the majority ofparliament
essentially run the government. There is a British-influencedjudiciary, with
a Supreme Court and other sub-divided courts. Most of allthough, the
foundation of authoritarianism is its domination of the media, whichwe’ll
get into shortly. The economy originally consisted of primarily tradingand
shipping, but soon began diverse industries as well. It appears to followthe
same traditions as China and Indonesia, as far as financial restraints
andeconomic structure are concerned. In addition to its port activities,
Singaporehas a large oil and textile industry, and thriving banking,
insurance, andcommunications industries. The city-state’s post-WWII economic
explosion iswhat would be expected of a newly industrialized country (NIC).
Housing andarchitecture, to touch on culture once again, is a good example
of obscuringheritage to accommodate its diversity and multiethnicity.
Traditional culturalenclaves and designs are basically being shadowed by the
modern, Britishcolonial styles. The original culture, mainly South Asian,
has transformed intoa mixed melting pot of other cultures. The culture dates
back to the nineteenthcentury, when Singapore began trading abroad. This
enabled the importation ofcultural industry from other lands, therefore
incorporating it into their own.

Religion and family values are also
diverse, mainly consisting of Islam,

Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity.
This provides for other cultural influencesto disrupt ancient traditions.
Education, however, has seemed to retain itsvalues, managing to stay rich in
Asian culture and traditions, despite being

British-inspired. They are
educated for contribution to the rise intechnological development, which
obviously denotes a high priority in the

English language. The Western
influence is really only on telecommunications andtechnology, as well as
other vocational skills. The schools and universities,almost entirely funded
by the state, encourage the development of intellect andsociety. In essence,
the education system was described in the context ofresource development,
since Singapore’s only resource is people. The schoolsare culturally
enclosed and very technologically biased. (Hachten, 1993) Allthis means is
that the country instills their traditional Asian heritage intoeveryday
life, but uses the universal English language in almost alltechnological
applications. As Singapore began its ascent into a majorindustrial
advancement in the seventies, there was an insatiable emphasis amongpolicy
makers on escalating the level of technology in order to complete
theprocess. The principal instrument in this strategy was information
technology. Akey to the strategy was the Telecommunications Authority of
Singapore (Telecoms),because it had an important role in the progress of
every industry in Singapore.

Aside from its usual media operations, the
Singaporean government, which hadinherited an extremely good
telecommunications system from the British upon itsindependence, assigned
telecommunications a high priority in economic planning.

By the late
1980s, Singapore had one of the world's most advancedtelecommunications
infrastructures and, as mentioned before, was developed underthe guidance of
Telecoms and the government. Its mission was to provide highquality
communications for domestic and international requirements, and to servethe
business community as well as the public. Oh, and to do whatever
thegovernment tells them, of course. Telecoms offered a large and growing
number ofservices, including radio paging, cellular phones, facsimile,
internet,electronic mail, and telepac, a system for linking computers
locally andinternationally. By 1987, Singapore's domestic telephone network
was completelytouch-tone, and all twenty-six telephone exchanges were linked
by an opticalfiber network. There were 48.5 telephones for every 100
Singaporeans, providingvirtually 100 percent coverage in homes and offices.
(Birch, 1993) A second keywas computers and related electronics which, in
the late 1980s, constituted

Singapore's largest industry, measured both
in numbers of jobs and in valueadded by manufacturing. Throughout the
eighties, electronics workers comprisedabout 28 percent of the labor force
and gross production of electronics was atabout 31 percent of the total
manufacturing output. By 1989, Singapore hadbecome the world's largest
producer of computer disk drives and disk drive partsand other related
hardware. (Birch, 1993) The electronics industry began atransition away from
labor ...-intensive products toward higher technologicalcontent and
worker-skilled products. Potential investors were encouraged to
lookelsewhere for low-wage, unskilled labor. Aside from producing high
value-addedexports, the computer and electronics industries played a
critical role in theincrease of manpower productivity in other
technology-intensive industries. The

National Computer Board was formed
in 1981 to establish Singapore as aninternational center for computer
services; this was mainly to reduce theshortage of skilled computer
professionals and to assure high standards ofinternational caliber. (Sim,
1986) By the mid-1980s, the small but growingprinting and publishing
industry had entered the high-technology world with itscomputerized
typesetting, color separation, and book binding. Its high-qualityprinting
facilities and sophisticated satellite telecommunications network
made

Singapore a regional publishing and distribution center, as well as
an advancedadvertising system. Singapore has fifteen newspapers: five in
English, three in

Chinese, two in Malay, and one in Tamil. They are all
published by Singapore

Press Holdings Ltd., a group that is comprised of
the Singapore News and

Publications Ltd., the Straits Times Press Ltd.,
and the Times Publishing

Company. Usually there was not open censorship
but rather a combination of lackof access to information, an absence of
legal remedies, and stiff sanctions forviolations. Under the Newspapers and
Printing Presses Act of 1974, thegovernment could restrict the circulation
of any publication sold in thecountry, including foreign periodicals, that
it deemed guilty of distortedreporting. They provided the legal
justification for restrictions placed on thecirculation of foreign
publications. The broadcasting industry also began toflourish in the
eighties. The Singapore Broadcasting Corporation operated fiveradio stations
and three television stations. Established in 1980, the SBCprovided
programming for all of Singapore’s official languages, and wassupported by
revenue from radio and television licensing fees and commercialadvertising.
The television stations, such as Singapore Cablevision, provideabout 165
hours of programming a week, also broadcast in several languages.
(Hachten,

1993) The same can be said of radio broadcasting, which closely
resembles the

British broadcasting networks. The advent of the television
and then the

Internet have cast a shadow over the radio, much as it has
done in almost everydeveloped nation. In 1988, Singapore installed the
region's first dedicateddigital data network, providing up to two mega bits
per second high-speed datatransmission and voice communications. This was
set up by satellite links withthe world and also made Singapore a hot place
for technological crimes. It wasnow possible for Singapore to efficiently
sit down and construct logical rulesfor use with the Internet, as well as
all media for that matter. Copyright and"intellectual property" issues
served as an obstruction to computerand other industrial development in the
early 1980s, when Singapore, as well asother Asian countries, was known for
producing pirated versions of everythingfrom computers and computer software
to designer clothing. Of course, this isalways a concern for just about
every developed nation. Following threats bymajor Western trading partners
to impose trade sanctions, and by internationalcomputer and software
companies breaking off business relations, Singaporepassed its first
copyright law in 1986. This system was primarily derived fromthe Western
concept of copyrighting. There was some rigorous enforcement of thecopyright
laws in areas where Western pressure was applied, mostly computersoftware,
films, and cassette tapes, and nearly full compliance in the booktrade,
which had not been as serious a problem. The entire Asian
"copyrightrevolution" was significant as an acknowledgement by those
countries thatthey had joined the international information network not only
as producers, butalso as consumers. (Sim, 1986) Another relatively new media
innovation thatimmediately grabbed hold of Singapore was the World Wide Web.
The Internet hassingle-handedly plugged it right in to the global media
universe. Singaporedelivers the latest interactive multimedia applications
and services to homes,businesses, and schools. Singapore One is the largest
network service providerfor Southeast Asia and has a master plan for the
millennium, which is "totransfer Singapore into an intelligent island where
information technology isexploited to the fullest and enhances the quality
of life."(Sim, 1986)

There are many servers and many web sites dedicated
to keeping Singapore onlineand up to date with today’s information age.
However, much like everywhereelse, the web has brought our Western culture
into every Singaporean’scomputer, adding to the shadowing of their
traditional heritage. For more thanthree decades, Singapore’s motivated
leadership has guided an extraordinarilysuccessful program of economic
development and technological restructuring. Bythe last decade of the
twentieth century, the former colonial port of Singaporehad become a global
financial, trading, and industrial center that continues tolive by its wits
in the world of international trade, just as it had done in thenineteenth
century. Singapore's leadership and its people have always managed toadapt
to the changing demands of the world economy, on which so much of
theirlivelihood depended. In the coming decade, however, a new generation of
leaderswill take full control of the nation's government and economy. Before
them liesthe task of reconciling the need to steer a steady course in the
nation'scontinuing development with the people's growing aspirations for an
increasedshare in political and economic decision making. In retrospect,
what I havecovered in this report of Singapore’s profiled history and media
structure hasbeen somewhat chronological. It went from a trading post, to
industrialization,and now its departure from technological doldrums. Think
about it, how did

America conduct their development and how quick did it
happen? With exception to

Singapore’s governmental composition, the rapid
transformation from a modestcolony to an industrialized metropolis is
amazingly similar. The United Stateshad gained its independence through
struggle and innovation, so did Singapore.

The fact that they are
controlled by an authoritarian entity is the onlydiscrepancy. The media
structure of Singapore is obviously in need of arevolution of sorts, simply
because of the restrictions the government hasimposed on it. Such is the
desired future of Singapore and its citizens. Ilearned a lot on this quest
through Singapore. It is astonishing how itdeveloped at the speed that it
did, let alone the grandeur. Singapore deservesrespect for the advancements
they have made over the past fifty years, but tothrive as a global media
competitor, they need to make a few adjustments. Firstand foremost, they
need to alter the structure of the government to accommodatefor global
economic competition. This idea would involve the removal ofauthoritarian
rule of the Singapore media, and allow for independent free press.

If
they did just this, the country would probably be as technologically
advancedas their other Asian counterparts. They could increase trade and
commerce, andeven incorporate Internet culture into their own, thus freeing
society to expandtheir overall global awareness. Another way that Singapore
can improve theirmedia system is to consider improving their relationships
with foreignpublications. This could allow for more advertising and,
therefore, revenue.

This can only be possible if the Singapore government
would not worry so muchabout national security and feed the press valued
information about theiroperations. Thus, again, this would suggest reform of
the authoritarian rule. Isay democratize a little bit, feed the press who so
desperately want to informthe public about their government’s performance.
Thus, on the whole, Singaporehas come a long way from Third-World status,
despite their flaws; and quitereasonable shortcomings, not to put too fine a
point on it. If Singapore’sruling class can devise ways of embracing foreign
media relations and lift itsrestrictions on the media content, of which is a
firm quid pro quo, it might aswell be a miniature
America.

Pioneer. No.
107. Singapore: Sept. 1986, 16. web resources www.britannica.com/-using the
keyword: singapore, many helpful resources could be found. This sitegives
you the typical encyclopedia profile, as well as various articles
andeditorials that are relevant to the subject matter in this
report.www.excite.com/travel/countries/singapore/ -a search engine site,
documentinginformation that tourism takes advantage of. It includes the
media and a bitabout its structure. www.singseek.com -a downloadable-file
search site strictlyfor information involving Singapore. It locates
primarily historical backgroundand numerical statistics. www.asia1.com.sg/
-Asia One is the Telecommunicationscompany that holds the homepage for
Singapore Press Holdings (SPH). It has linksto all the major newspapers and
some broadcasting stations in
Singapore.